Women with ADHD suffer from serious comorbid conditions with more frequency and severity than do men with ADHD or the neurotypical population. A staggering 93% percent of women with ADHD report at least one related diagnosis, according to a 2023 ADDitude survey.
The most common comorbidities among women were:A separate ADDitude survey of 1,148 women with ADHD found that 57% of those who had given birth suffered from postpartum depression (PPD) with at least two-thirds reporting symptoms of mood swings, crying spells, and feelings of worthlessness, shame, guilt, or inadequacy.These self-reported comorbidity rates are higher than those found in most other studies.
But even those scientific research reports contain shocking findings:“Our findings of extremely high rates of cutting and other forms of self-injury, along with suicide attempts, show us that the long-term consequences of ADHD in females can be profound,” says Stephen Hinshaw, Ph.D., director of the Berkeley Girls and ADHD Longitudinal Study (BGALS) — the only longitudinal study on females with ADHD conducted to date.Why are women with ADHD at greater risk for developing comorbid conditions and why do these conditions appear to take a greater toll on this group?
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